Adolf Richard Hölzel (13 May 1853 – 17 October 1934) was a German painter. He began as a Realist, but later became an early promoter of various Modern styles, including

Abstractionism Abstractionism is the theory that the mind obtains some or all of its concepts by abstracting them from concepts it already has, or from experience.Geach, Peter (1957) Mental Acts - Their Contents and Their Objects. Routledge Kegan Paul. One may, ...

Biography

Hölzel was born in Olmütz. His father was the publisher, Eduard Hölzel. In 1868, he completed a three-year apprenticeship as a typesetter at the map publishing firm of F.A.Perthes in

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

. Three years later, he and his family moved to Vienna where the following year he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts, moving to the

Academy of Fine Arts, Munich The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. In the second half of the 19th centur ...

, in 1876, where he studied with

Wilhelm von Diez Albrecht Christoph Wilhelm von Diez (17 January 1839 – 25 February 1907) was a German painter and illustrator of the Munich School. Life He was born in Bayreuth. He attended a trade school in Munich, followed by the Polytechnic School (precur ...

. After completing his studies, Hölzel married and divided his time between Munich and

Rothenburg ob der Tauber Rothenburg ob der Tauber () is a town located in the district of Ansbach (district), Ansbach of Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia), the Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. It is well known for its well-preserved Middle Ages, medieval old town, a d ...

. In Munich, he became acquainted with

Fritz von Uhde Fritz von Uhde (born Friedrich Hermann Carl Uhde; 22 May 1848 – 25 February 1911) was a German Painting, painter of Genre art, genre and Religious Painting, religious subjects. His style lay in-between realism (art), Realism and Impressionism, ...

, who introduced him to

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

. Together with Von Uhde,

Ludwig Dill Wilhelm Franz Karl Ludwig Dill (2 February 1848, Gernsbach - 24 October 1940, Karlsruhe) was a German ship and landscape painter who was a founding member of the Munich Secession. Life and work He was the only son of the Tax Assessor (later ...

and Arthur Langhammer, he helped create an art school, the Dachauer Malschule, in the nearby village of

Dachau Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...

, which later became the keystone of the famous Dachau art colony. He lived there from 1888 to 1905 and his novel teaching methods drew students from all over Europe. In 1904, he participated in the first exhibition of the

Deutscher Künstlerbund The Deutscher Kuenstlerbund (Association of German Artists) was founded in 1903 on the initiative of Count Harry Kessler, a promoter of arts and artists; Alfred Lichtwark, director of the Hamburg Art Gallery; and the famous painters Lovis Corin ...

. During his time in Dachau, Hölzel's work began moving toward abstraction, reflecting his interest in such principles as the

golden section In mathematics, two quantities are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their summation, sum to the larger of the two quantities. Expressed algebraically, for quantities and with , is in a golden ratio to if \fr ...

and

Goethe's Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on literary, political, and philosophi ...

'' Theory of Colors''. After studying the color theories of

Wilhelm von Bezold Johann Friedrich Wilhelm von Bezold (June 21, 1837 – February 17, 1907) was a German physicist and meteorologist born in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria. He is best known for discovering the Bezold effect and the Bezold–Brücke shift. Bezol ...

, he developed his own color theory, based on a circle with "diatonic" and "chromatic" values (terms taken from music).Johannes Pawlik: ''Theorie der Farbe.'' DuMont Verlag, Cologne 1990, He was involved in creating the

Munich Secession The Munich Secession (German language, German Münchener Secession) was an association of visual artists who broke away from the mainstream Munich Artists' Association in 1892, to promote and defend their art in the face of what they considered ...

and the

Vienna Secession The Vienna Secession (; also known as the Union of Austrian Artists or ) is an art movement, closely related to Art Nouveau, that was formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian painters, graphic artists, sculptors and architects, including Josef Ho ...

. His influential essay "Über Formen und Massenvertheilung" (On Shapes and Mass Distribution), was published in ''

Ver Sacrum ''Ver sacrum'' ("sacred spring") is a religious practice of ancient Italic peoples, especially the Sabelli (or Sabini) and their offshoot Samnites, concerning the dedication of colonies. It was of special interest to Georges Dumézil, according ...

''. After leaving Dachau, he still returned in the summer months to give private lessons. In 1905, Hölzel was appointed to replace Leopold von Kalckreuth at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart and received commissions on religious themes from the

Deutscher Werkbund The Deutscher Werkbund (; ) is a German association of artists, architects, designers and industrialists established in 1907. The ''Werkbund'' became an important element in the development of modern architecture and industrial design, parti ...

. Despite abandoning Realism, he still felt that his paintings contained a strong element of religion. Among his students the so-called "Hölzel circle" developed, including

Oskar Schlemmer Oskar Schlemmer (; 4 September 1888 – 13 April 1943) was a German painter, sculptor, designer and choreographer associated with the Bauhaus school. In 1923, he was hired as Master of Form at the Bauhaus theatre workshop, after working at the ...

Willi Baumeister Willi Baumeister (22 January 1889 – 31 August 1955) was a German painter, scenic designer, art professor, and typographer. His work was part of the art competitions at the 1928 Summer Olympics and the 1932 Summer Olympics. Life Born in S ...

, Max Ackermann,

Alf Bayrle Alf Bayrle (15 December 1900 – 11 September 1982), also known as Alf Singer-Bayrle, was a German painter, printmaker and sculptor. Life Bayrle was born in Biberach an der Riss. After his military service and participation in the First Wor ...

and

Johannes Itten Johannes Itten (11 November 1888 – 25 March 1967) was a Swiss expressionist painter, designer, teacher, writer and theorist associated with the Bauhaus (''Staatliches Bauhaus'') school. Together with German-American painter Lyonel Feining ...

. He constantly promoted exhibitions of

Expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

art and established a special painting school for women. Tired of the continuous opposition from his colleagues, Hölzel retired in 1919, but continued to give private lessons and work as a freelance painter. He died in obscurity in 1934, in Stuttgart. His personal papers have been preserved at the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. In 2005, the non-profit "Adolf Hölzel-Stiftung" was created to preserve and promote his works.

Selected paintings

File:Adolf Hölzel Komposition.jpg, Composition File:Adolf hoelzel.jpg, Journey File:Hoelzel komposition mit figuren.jpg, Figures in a Landscape File:Komposition-in-rot.jpg, Composition in Red File:Adolf Hölzel Anbetung.jpg, Adoration File:Hölzel-ChristusUndDieKananäerin.jpg, Christ and the woman of Canaan

Footnotes

References

External links

Adolf-Hölzel-Stiftung
website home page *
ArtNet: More works by Hölzel.
*
Adolf Hölzel
in the

Staatsgalerie Stuttgart The Staatsgalerie Stuttgart (, "State Gallery") is an art museum in Stuttgart, Germany, it opened in 1843. In 1984, the opening of the Neue Staatsgalerie (''New State Gallery'') designed by James Stirling transformed the once provincial galler ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holzel, Adolf 19th-century German painters German male painters 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists German art educators Moravian-German people Artists from Olomouc Painters from Stuttgart 1853 births 1934 deaths German abstract painters 19th-century German male artists Academic staff of State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart

Biography

Selected paintings

Footnotes

References

Further reading

External links